Name-register.



F. W. LEUTHESSER.

NAME REGISTER.

APPLIOATION 311.111) MAY 21, 1909.

994,848, Patented June 13, 1911.

wilfiess s:

' ncy THE cums PETERS 1.0. WAJHNGTON UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

FRED W. LEUTI-IESSER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

NAME-REGISTER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED W. Lnu'rrrnssnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Name- Registers, of which the following is a specification.

The name register of the present invention is intended particularly to serve the purposes of a building directory in which spaces are provided for the insertion of a large number of names, which must, of necessity, be changed from time to time as the occupants of the building change.

The object' of the present invention is to so construct the device that easy access can be secured to the name cards or slips, in order to facilitate changes and substitutions, without the necessity for bodily removing the register as a whole or in section from its fixed position in the building, and without the necessity for inserting the names from the rear of the frame.

The invention relates particularly to the construction of the frame with its removable front glass, and to the method of mounting the frame, if desired, to form a section in a large building directory.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the frame, showing the name cards in position; Fig. 2a vertical sectional view of the same, taken through the center of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a cross sectional view, taken through Fig. 1; and Fig. 1 a sectional perspective, showing the method of mounting two or more of the frames to form sections in a building directory.

The frame of the register comprises side rails 5 which are provided, on their inner faces, with rabbetcd or shouldered channels 6, the deeper grooves of which receive the side edges of a back plate 7, which is permanently secured to and forms part of the frame. The top of the frame is provided with a front cross rail 8 having a depending flange 9, behind which rail is located a spacing plate 10 which abuts against the upper margin of the back plate and has its ends entered into the shallower groove of the rabbetcd channel; and behind the back plate is a back rail 11 of a thickness to bring the upper back face of the frame flush with the side rails thereof. The front and back rails forming the upper portion of the frame are of a length to lie inside of the side rails, which latter extend unbroken from top to Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 21, 1909.

Patented June 13, 1911.

Serial No. 497,511.

bottom of the frame. The spacing plate 10 and the back rail 11 are riveted or otherwise permanently secured to the back plate as shown in Fig. 2; and the front rail is removably held in place by means of a screw 12, of a length to extend clear through the upper part of the frame. The bottom of the frame comprises a front rail 13 having an upper flange 14 and a lower flange 15 forming upper and lower grooves or channels behind the front wall of the rail. The rail abuts against the spacing plate 15 which cooperates with a back rail 16 to give the desired thickness to the lower portion of the frame. The lower edge of the frame is completed and finished by bottom plate 17, which lies behind the edge of the lower flange 15 and abuts against the lower edges of the spacing plate, back, and back rail, respectively. The front lower rail is held in place by means of a screw 18 similar to the screw 12 at the top of the frame.

\Vhen the back is inserted into the deeper grooves of the rabbetcd channels, a shallow groove is afforded, as shown in Fig. 3, for the reception of the ends of a plurality of flexible name cards 19 which are adapted to be bowed in the center to retract the ends sufficiently to permit the cards to be inserted, after which the cards will spring out into flat position, which projects the ends into the grooves. A thick plate of glass 20 incloses the front of the frame, which plate of glass is held in position by the flanges 9 and 14; at the top and bottom of the frame, respectively. A rubber cushion strip 21 is located in the space behind the lower flange 15.

The device above described furnishes a complete name register in itself, but, if it is desired, said name register can be mounted to form a section in a building directory, which directories are frequently of large size and ornate appearance, so that in many cases it is desirable to employ a number of name registers in connection with one another. As shown in Fig. 1, a plurality of registers, of the character described, are mounted within a main directory frame, having upper rails 22 provided with depending flanges 23, leaving deep grooves or channels 24 for the reception of the upper ends of the registers or sections. The lower ends of the registers or sections are supported within the lower rail 25 provided with a relatively low flange 26, leaving a relatively shallow groove or channel 27.

The upper and lower rails are connected, at their ends, by side rails 28; and the frame, as shown, is provided with a backing 29, although, obviously, the building directory frame could be constructed to display names on both sides instead of only one.

In use, when it is desired to open up the register frame for the purpose of removing or inserting cards, it is only necessary to remove the lower screw 18, which releases the lower rail 13, which may then be taken out, allowing the glass plate to slip down against the rubber cushion strip 21, which falling of the glass plate brings its upper edge below the edge of the upper flange 9 and permits the attendant to insert his fingers in position to secure a hold on the upper edge of the glass, which can then be easily removed from the frame. Thereafter the name cards will be exposed face up for change or substitution. The construction renders it un necessary to remove the backing behind the name cards, in order to secure access thereto, which removal is objectionable, in that it necessitates the printing of designating marks or names on the back of each card and also necessitates the removal of the on tire back of the directory frame in order to secure access to any panel thereof.

When one of the present registers is used as a section in a building directory, the changes and substitutions in each panel can be effected without disturbing the remaining panels and without removing the back from the directory frame or even removing the register sections therefrom. When, however, it is desirable to remove a register section from the directory frame, this can be easily accomplished by simply lifting the sections slightly until its lower edge is above the edge of the flange 26, after which the register section can be swung out and removed. This lifting can be easily effected, by reason of the surplus depth in the channel 24 of the directory frame.

The device is one which greatly simplifies and facilitates the work of attending to the name cards; and each of the registers, being complete in itself, is equally capable of use, either solely or in conjunction with other registers for making register sections in a complete directory.

The adaptability of the present invention for use in series is of importance, in view of the fact that most of the finest oflice buildings in the large cities are equipped with highly ornate building directory frames, which form a part of the permanent equipment of the building, and which will serve to accommodate the register sections of the present invention without change or modification.

What I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A name register comprising grooved side rails, flexible name cards adapted, when lying flat, to have their ends entered into said grooves, a back plate for the register, a removable glass overlying the name card and in close proximity thereto, an upper front rail having a flanged portion adapted to overlie and contact the upper edgev of the glass, a lower front rail having a flanged portion adapted to overlie and contact the lower edge of the glass, a bottom plate car ried by the lower end of the register body, against the upper surface of which the glass rests when the lower rail is removed, the distance between the upper face of the lower rail and the bottom plate being greater than the length of the flange of the upper rail, and removable locking means for securing the upper and lower front rails to the back of the register, the removalof the lower rail above the bottom plate permitting the glass to descend into position for permitting its removal from the register body, substantially as described.

2. A name register comprising grooved side rails, flexible name cards adapted, when lying fiat, to have their ends entered into said grooves, a back plate for the register, a removable glass overlying the name cards and in close proximity thereto, an upper front rail having a flanged portion adapted to overlie and contact the upper edge of the glass, a lower front rail having a flanged portion adapted to overlie and contact the lower edge of the glass, abottom plate carried by the lower end of the register body against the upper surface of which the glass rests when the lower rail is removed, the distance between the upper face of the lower rail and the bottom plate being greater than the length of the flange of the upper rail, removable locking means for securing the upper and lower front rails to the back of the register, the removal of the lower rail above the bottom plate permitting the glass to descend into position for permitting its removal from the register body, and a strip of resilient material positioned above the bottom plate and forming a cushion against which the lower end of the glass strikes when descending, substantially as described.

FRED lV. LEUTHESSER.

lVitnesses:

PIERSON V. BANNING, WVM. P. BOND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

